Chapter 2 - ASHLEIGH

“Do you guys mind if we stop by Victoria’s house? I told her I’d pick her up this morning,” Ollie asks, looking at Brent and me through the front mirror.

He didn’t have to ask; he knows what we think of Victoria. In a nutshell, she’s a total psycho bitch. At one point she was so bad I had to tell him about her bullying other pack members and flirting and flaunting with other men. Obviously, she denied everything later.

They stopped seeing each other for a couple of months but then we caught them sneaking around again the other week. He finally came clean and confessed that he and Victoria were dating again.

Being the future Alpha and all, he really doesn’t owe us any explanation. But he is our cousin, and it hurts that he would take her word against ours. However, if she doesn’t change then sooner or later, she will out herself and he will find out on his own.

“Sure,” I respond with a shrug. To be honest, I don’t really care anymore. As his Beta I can give him advice. Beyond that, I can’t change his mind or opinion. He must do that on his own.

“Why don’t you hop up front, Ash, and she can sit in the back with Brent?” he mutters.

I look at him in surprise. “Are you sure?” I ask.

“Of course!” he replies with a frown. “First, you’re my best friend. Second, you’re my Beta. And third, we just started things back up a few days ago, I just want to see if anything changes in her attitude before we make it official again. And, well, what better way to test it?” He shrugged.

I fold my arms in frustration and look back at him sternly. “I am not going to be part of your girlfriend's attitude experiment.”

“Please,” he asks, looking back at me pleadingly. “I took in what you and Brent said. I just want to check things out and take it slow.”

I sigh guess he really likes this girl. He was depressed for a few weeks when they ended things the first time around, and the parents tried to ask us what happened. Of course, Brent and I kept quiet about the whole thing because it wasn’t our place to tell them.

I am only slightly older than Ollie who is turning eighteen in three months and will then be able to sense his mate. Our parents are very particular about us waiting for our mates. Nowadays, a lot of people don’t really wait, but I like the idea of my mate being my one and only.

I didn’t really see the point in dating because we were going to find our fated mates. What was the point in falling for someone if we already had someone destined for us, the heartache and hurt alone would be pointless so I always avoided it. When I was younger, I wanted to have a boyfriend but as I grew older, I realized there wasn't any point.

“Fine,” I sigh and move to the front. He grins then steps on the gas, taking off in the direction of Victoria’s house.

Victoria was waiting for us on the steps of her front porch. She looks and smiles when she sees Ollie then frowns as soon as she sees me in the front seat then peered behind and sees Brent.

Her frown becomes a frustrated pout. I guess Ollie forgot to mention we were coming along for the ride. I braced myself for the explosion that was going to happen when she reaches the back door.

“Hi baby, I didn’t know we were going to have company this morning,” Victoria said in her sickly-sweet voice while she hops into the car.

“Sorry, I forgot to mention it,” Ollie half-heartedly responds.

The tension in the car is thick and we sit silently for the rest of the trip. Brent shifts around awkwardly in the back seat trying to get away from the whole situation. Victoria just sits there looking at her nails and fiddling with her hair. She looked up at Ollie once or twice as if trying to decide if she should say something but decided against it.

Ollie mind-linked me just as we pull up to the school. ‘Are you ok?’ he asked, eyes still on the road in front of him trying not to give away that we were having a silent conversation.

‘Yep, just stressing about this test and my reports,’ I answer back. I quickly grab my schoolbooks and get out of the car as quickly as possible. “See you guys in the cafeteria at lunch,” I call out.

As I run up the school stairs lots of people looked at me and nod, muttering “Morning, Beta” out of respect. I nod back and respond with the same “good morning”.

As the future Beta of Liverpool, I like to keep the peace, I like to know who’s who, and what’s what. Not in a bad way, just that it’s my job to know if there are any threats old or new, and I need to evaluate them accordingly to protect our pack and future Alpha.

At school Kia likes to keep a low profile and will only stir if she senses a threat of any kind or to anyone.

Today seems like a harmless day, so she retreated to the back of my mind and let me get on with the day of schoolwork and teachers. My two closest female friends, Chloe and Skyla, come bounding up to me with big smiles on their faces. It’s nice to have some familiar faces around when we first started high school.

Chloe and I belong to the same pack and grew up together. We met Skyla in the second term of our first year and quickly became fast friends. She is from the Westfield pack about 30kms from our pack lands. Visiting her has been hard but we made it work. At least we get to see each other in school. We also made sure to include her in everything.

“Girl, how have you been? How was the weekend? I am so excited about Friday! So happy you decided to throw a party,” Chloe babbles on as she reaches my locker.

I smile, “it was good, just study and more training with uncle and dad,” I shrug and walk towards my Bio class. “How was both of your weekend?” I asked them both.

There are many people standing around and muttering as we entered the main hallway, which led to the different classrooms and fields. I look up and frown. Kia’s restless, pacing back and forth, unsettled. She’s never been like this before.

‘What’s wrong?’ I ask her.

‘I’m not sure, something just feels off,’ she mutters.

‘Like a bad thing?’ I ask.

‘No, just different,’ she responds, still pacing in the back of my mind. It is unusual for her to be this restless.

“What’s all the commotion?” I wonder out loud.

Chloe and Skyla looked at each other with concern. “Zander Blackwood is back,” Skyla mutters.

My body goes stiff, and I quickly mind-link Ollie. ‘Ollie, Blackwood is back, how do you want to handle this?’

‘Just keep an eye on everything, keep your distance,’ Ollie responds.

‘Noted,’ I reply.

The eyes of some students’ glaze as Ollie mind links pack members who are currently in school and makes a formal announcement. ‘Zander Blackwood is back at school, keep your distance and watch your back around him and his pack. Do not engage. The North side of the cafeteria is out of bounds while he and his pack are in the area. If any issues arise between our pack and his, link me and Beta Ashleigh.’

‘Yes Alpha,’ came a wave of responses after the announcement.

Chloe glances at me with a worried expression. “I guess things just got a little harder than we liked,” she mutters softly as we walk past humans and other pack members gathering around and gawking at the new arrivals.

I nod and glance around. Blackwood is standing between the massive pillars leading to the English classrooms with his arm around the waist of a she-wolf with long-dark hair. She is wearing a short white cropped top with her boobs spilling out, a black and white striped mini skirt, and black stiletto heels. She has long dark hair and she was wearing black stiletto heels, a black and white striped mini-skirt, and a short white cropped top with her boobs spilling out.

My breathing hitches and my heart races as he runs his hand through his beautiful dark brown hair. His hazel eyes look excited, happy even. Perhaps he is happy to be back in school. Or it could be because of the she-wolf standing next to him presenting herself to him like a prize to be claimed.

“I guess so, yeah. Honestly, I didn’t think they were going to come back. I thought they’d go somewhere closer to their pack.” I shrug as we walk towards the science labs.

“This is me; I’ll catch you guys at lunch? I have three periods this morning,” I wave to my friends as I walk into my science class.

“Sure thing. We will text you when we all finish, and we can meet up,” they chipper back.

We wish each other luck for the morning and go our separate ways until the lunchtime bell.